Family Ties
by MidnightMoon2005
Summary: A new story in response to the July challenge at the NCIS Special Ops board. Will definitely be updated, keep your eye on it.
1. Chapter 1

Darkness closed around him as he fell. He saw a montage of important images from his life flash in front of his eyes; the day he became a marine taking up most of the time. He remembered in horror the day he met the woman that had just caused his death; the comrade he thought he'd gained in service. With a sickening crash, he hit the ground; the final ounces of life leaving his body almost instantly.

The woman stood on the balcony of the 32nd floor; a look of regret and pity washing over her face. Her green eyes narrowed, irritated at her thoughts. Her boss had warned her that if she was attached to the victims or the thought of who the victims could've been, she'd never make it. She glanced one more time over the white metal railing, now smeared with the man's blood; trying not to think of the family he could've left behind. Suddenly the harsh ring of her cell phone echoed through the midnight air; snapping her from her forbidden thoughts.

"Is it taken care of?" a man with a thick accent asked; his words echoing in her ears.

"Yes…" she said, eyeing the bloody knife she'd dropped on the ground; taking a ragged breath.

"Alessia…I warned you…" the man began in a threatening tone.

"I know…to not get attached…" Alessia said; clicking the 'off' button on her cell phone, wondering whether or not it was a good idea to become involved in this business. She walked back into the living room area of the suite her victim had rented for the night. Knowing there was most likely a grave-yard shift security attendant she reminded herself she won't have much time. She pulled her blonde hair back into a bun, and pulled a brown curly wig over her scalp. Putting on a baseball cap she headed out of the room; careful to avoid any main exits. The lobby was thankfully abandoned, and there was no one outside at this hour; so she was able to relax a little bit. She spotted her car and breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're out awfully late miss…" a security guard said from behind her; his voice carrying in the silence of the night.

She stood for a moment, startled, willing off the look of panic threatening to wash over her features, "yea…I was with a friend; big day tomorrow, need to be home first thing."

The last bit of tension eased from her body as she sunk into her BMW's leather seats. Starting the car she pulled out of the parking lot, careful not to look back. Once she was out of sight from the hotel's premises, she shed her baseball cap and wig and headed home.


	2. Chapter 2

Loud music blared from the speakers as more Navy personnel made their way through the door to unwind after a long days work. Aidan McAllister sat at the edge of the bar farthest from the door. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the marine he'd always known and admired from afar. Sure he was married, but looking never hurt anyone, and with looks like that, being blonde and beautiful, she was probably taken as well. Yet, she wouldn't even look at him, shrugging off many advances by his fellow marines she continued to laugh with her friends. Every marine that had attempted to talk to her returned to their booth muttering things about how _'she's a goddess' _or _'she's too pretty to talk to a guy like me.'_ The constant parade of rejected marines began to frustrate Aidan; he got up not caring that she hadn't even looked at him the whole night. He'd seen her there every night he'd gone; which was almost since the beginning of the restaurant's existence.

"Come to Sea Glass often?" he said sitting down next to her in the stool that either all the men were too afraid to occupy; or a man had just vacated.

She glanced at him, looking him up and down. As if he'd met her approval, physically of course, a sly smile spread across her lips as she extended her hand for him to shake.

"On occasion," she said, smiling; knowing more about the man sitting next to her than he probably knew about himself. She knew about his views, and how much Master Gunnery Sgt. Mansfield valued his opinion; which is exactly why she needed his company tonight.

"I'm Aidan…Aidan McAllister," he began; taking note that he had to scream his name for her to hear, "you want to go some place quiet?"

Katrina glanced at her friends who were already waving her off to have a good time. She hopped from the bar stool and headed to the door to grab her coat; Aidan looked around to see most of the marines in the restaurant amazed that he had gotten her so easily.

"I'm Katrina by the way," she said turning to face him once they were out of the building.

"Well, Katrina, my car is just around the corner, I know exactly where to go," Aidan said, leading her down the road.

* * *

That's how their first date had happened. She knew he'd be an easy hit to take care of, he thought she was a goddess, never would suspect her real job. She knew she couldn't mess it up, that no matter how close she got she still had to take him out of this world. She shook the happy memories of their time together, reminding herself to quit thinking of him and got ready for bed. She had a big day tomorrow, she'd just completed only her forth major hit in six years and she had a meeting with her boss in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day looked like one in the middle of August on the East Coast, but the wind made it seem like it was early Fall. Kate walked off the elevator shedding her jacket; Tony was hot on her heels like a puppy chasing his owner who was carrying his favorite ball. He was taunting her about what appeared to be her latest dating fiasco, something that had become a bit of a routine in the past months.

"So let me get this straight…the guy was so obnoxious you handed him money and left before dinner came?" Tony asked, stunned that Kate had found yet another obnoxious man to take to dinner.

"Tony, you don't even know the half of it! This guy made you look…" Kate said turning to face her coworker, "never mind, that wouldn't even be paying you a compliment, anyone would be better than this guy."

"Oh come on Kate, you know I'm not that bad," Tony said, leaning back in his chair; he grinned widely feeling quite victorious.

"You? Not bad? Oh right, someone who searches my garbage, eats my food…where do I sign up?" Kate said flatly, picking up her PDA checking her schedule for any appointments. Before Tony had a chance to respond, Gibbs approached the two agents from behind. There were circles under his eyes that gave the impression he hadn't gone home that night, much less slept any.

"You two done bickering?" Gibbs growled his lack of rest showing.

"Done," the two young agents said in unison, their respect for the silver haired man showing.

"Good, we got a call a few hours ago, a marine was stabbed and fell thirty two floors to his final death," Gibbs barked, "grab your gear and let's get a move on."

The team followed their boss to the elevator, their gear readily available if the situation should call for it.

"I don't know why you keep bringing that up, I only stole your sandwich once and we're…" Tony had begun to rant in a low whisper but was cut off by a swift slap in the back of the head. He turned to Gibbs to see his normal half smirk lingering at the corners of his mouth.

"Shut up, DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped in a slightly amused tone.

"Thank you Gibbs," Kate said, nodding in approval.

"You too, Kate," Gibbs said his tone stern; the team stood in silence as the elevator began it's descent to the ground floor. The ride to the Sheraton in Ashland was quiet; Gibbs' tension hung in the air like thick fog of a cold December morning, everyone could feel its chilling grasp on the mood in the car. Gibbs pulled up next to the NCIS truck; the team leader was first out of the car, his hope for immediate answers evident.

"What do you have for me Duck?" Gibbs asked with false enthusiasm.

"I'm afraid I can't offer you much more than the obvious until we get our marine back to autopsy," the doctor said, pulling out his thermometer to determine the time of death.

"Well, can you estimate time of death at least?" Gibbs snapped.

"Between 0100 and 0430 hours Jethro, once he's in the lab I'll have a smaller window," Ducky said.

"Ok, you and Palmer take the body as soon as Kate has photographed it and run the tests you need," Gibbs snarled through clenched teeth, "I'm going to ask the hotel personnel a few questions."

The older man turned from his team leaving them in full control of running the outdoor crime scene. He wondered how long it would take them to turn away the local cops to be at peace in their work. Although they understood that the local police had the same job to do, but his team didn't like to share their scene or resources. He entered the lobby to find the police leader questioning the last concierge on duty and immediately knew that this would take a while. Outside Kate was trying to work but Tony was circling trying to get more details of her previous night's misery. She ignored him for as long as possible, searching the surrounding area for things that could help them later.

"So how'd you meet him? What's his name?" Tony asked; seeming like he had stolen Gibbs' coffee he was so hyper.

"None of your business, DiNozzo," Kate said aggravated, leaning down to examine a receipt on the ground.

"Oh come on Kate, what's a little discussion of dating woes between friends?" Tony asked, knowing she hated sharing no matter how hard he pushed.

"Nothing, just I don't enjoy talking about it with the people I work with," she began, turning to face him, "least of all you, 'cause with my luck you may end up knowing the guy."

"I'm your friend, and if the guy is my friend too, then all the better…" he began in his normal tone; she knew he was really enjoying her failure.

"You're not going to get his name, Tony," she said, trying to make herself sound serious, looking directly in his eyes to make her point clear.

"Fine Kate, don't have fun; guess I'll just have to tell Jake he's not going to get a second chance," he said, grinning; for once he was actually victorious.

"I cannot believe you DiNozzo! You knew the whole time?" Kate exclaimed, truly annoyed at her coworkers immaturity.

"Yea, he called me last night before you two went out," Tony said, grinning, "So should I tell him?"

"That won't be necessary; I would like to think I made it quite clear that wouldn't be happening when I left before dinner came," Kate retorted, pausing, "but then again, if he's anything like you, maybe he'd need the extra heads up."

"Ouch, Kate, that was low even for you," Tony said; taking a glance up at the towering building. He looked back at his coworker who reluctantly met his gaze.

"Live with it Tony," she said, giving him a quick punch in the stomach as she breezed past him. He watched her walk away heading towards the hotel entrance. It wasn't until he'd made the effort to take a step to follow that he'd realized he couldn't breathe. She'd knocked the wind completely from his lungs. He stood there a minute longer before reminding himself that his boss wasn't in the best of moods today and he'd better hurry up to the 32nd floor as well if he didn't want to be yelled at. As the elevator's door opened, Tony was faced with Gibbs' scowl, one he was all too familiar with.

"Can you tell me where the **hell** you've been, DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked.

"Was just surveying the scene downstairs…boss," Tony said uneasily, moving slightly so they could join him on the elevator.

"Find anything interesting?" Kate asked smirking.

"No," Tony said through clenched teeth.

"I thought you two were done arguing today," Gibbs growled, irritation showing in his tone. The three left the building heading to the car. As they approached Kate called _'shotgun'_; she turned and flashed him a smile knowing how much it would irritate him that she'd beaten him to the punch.

"Yea, Boss, we are now," Tony began, shooting a glare at Kate in the front seat, "may I ask why I'm the only one getting snapped at now?"

"Yea, DiNozzo, because Kate actually made it to the 32nd floor before it was time to leave," Gibbs snapped, pulling out of the parking lot. When they arrived at the building Gibbs headed to the autopsy room, desperate to find a starting point for investigation.

"Duck, what've you got for me?" Gibbs called upon entering the plain white room.

"Not much more than what we knew at the scene. However, victim's death appears to be caused by the fall to the pavement rather than the stab wound to his abdomen," Ducky explained, turning on the light to show the skull fractures of the deceased marine.

Gibbs sighed audibly, obviously not satisfied with the progression in the last hour, "Alright, let me know when you've got something."

Gibbs exited the elevator on the main floor, hoping that his team had been more productive. He was frustrated by the barrier that seemed to be in place on this particular investigation, which of course did nothing for his peace of mind.

"So, what do we know about our deceased marine?" Gibbs snapped, drawing the attention of his team.

"Deceased marine's name is Aidan McAllister, he's married, father of one, a daughter…" Kate explained, but before she could continue Gibbs interrupted her.

"He's married and has a kid…can anyone tell me why he was out this late to begin with?" Gibbs barked, immediately noticing his team's blank looks, "find out **now**."


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Katrina Thomas entered her boss's office. Hesitating for a moment she walked to the receptionist's desk, clearing her throat to get her attention.

"I'm here to see Garrison," she said, trying not to sound too anxious. She'd met with her boss many times, but never in _this_ office where she was expected to acknowledge him as First Sergeant; the change of setting made her nervous. As nervous as she was, she reminded herself that this was most likely a nerve and loyalty test.

"May I tell him who is waiting?" the receptionist asked, a skeptical look passing over her features quickly.

Katrina paused only one second before giving her name, "I'm Katrina Thomas." Turning, she smiled to herself and thought how easily she could have slipped and said, '_Alessia'_.

Katrina sat down in the chair closest to her boss's office; she began to count the seconds as they passed, wondering when she would be allowed to enter the office. Fidgeting with her ring, her mind began to wander over the past few years; she smiled to herself remembering how insecure she was when she decided to join this business. Her boss had started her slow, taking out one of his ex-girlfriends that wasn't going to leave him alone. Who knew that she would have it in her to kill someone on another's orders; however once she did it, she knew it's what she was destined to do.

"Ms. Thomas…Ms. Thomas!" the receptionist called, breaking into Katrina's thoughts, "First Sergeant Garrison will see you now."

Katrina rose, smoothing her shirt; cautiously she opened the door and stepped inside. "Mr…what do I call you here in this office?"

"Well…once you're in my office; it doesn't matter, just in front of others it must be First Sergeant Garrison. Anywhere else Danté is fine," he said, gesturing for her to sit down.

"Who am I taking on next?" she asked suddenly, trying to cover up her nerves. She placed her hand flat on her thigh in effort to prevent it from shaking.

"No one yet, at least right now," Danté explained, "being the rookie you are I need to give the jobs to those who are more experienced."

"Oh…" Alessia replied, averting her eyes; she resisted temptation to play with her ring.

"Your time will come, and when it does I need you to be prepared…" at these words her emotions rose.

"Then shouldn't I get a job sooner rather than later?" she snapped.

"If you'd listen, I was going to tell you that you are to continue training, and stay within the marines, do you understand?" Danté explained his voice firm.

She sighed audibly, "But why?"

"I trust you are smart enough to figure that out by yourself…" he said, absentmindedly straightening out the objects decorating his desk.

"Yes, sir…" she said, almost in a whisper rising slowly. She lingered for a moment before moving to exit the room.

"Be careful with who you get close to, Ms. Thomas," he said, using her second name now that the door was open. Alessia looked back at him with a silent nod and closed the door behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning the team walked in to find Gibbs there already scanning his computer for any information they could use.

"Wow…boss, you're here early…" Tony said, eyeing him skeptically, "what's up?"

"Trying to find information on the McAllister family," he said, not looking away from the screen, "there's not a lot of information about them…"

"Standard all American family?" Kate asked, moving to sit down at her desk.

"Yep…married for five years, a daughter, Jamie, fourteen, undoubtedly a handful," Tony said, "We ran this search yesterday before we left."

"I know, DiNozzo, but no one's perfect," Gibbs snapped, "Kate you're with me."

Kate looked up from her file, shocked, "but, Gibbs, I was going to…" She stopped herself, seeing the expression on her boss's face she knew any explanation would be wasted oxygen.

"Where are we going?" she asked, grabbing her gun from the drawer, following Gibbs to the elevator.

"We're going to talk to Ms. McAllister and her daughter," Gibbs barked.

"You really think they could give us something important?" Kate asked, wondering if the visit was really worth it; when she saw the look on his face she knew he had a hunch about the family.

The two agents arrived in front of the McAllister's house in record time; due in large part to Gibbs' 'short cuts'. The sun filtered through the maple trees lining the streets as the two took a minute to observe the neighborhood. A few houses down a little boy rode his bike, ringing his bell to keep his father's attention; the boy was beaming with confidence and pride that he was riding his first bike. On the other side of the street a woman was clipping away dead leaves and flowers from her garden, pausing to wipe the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. They turned their attention to 486 Pine Avenue, where the family lived; the McAllister's had inhabited this area for almost twenty years. Kate followed her boss to the McAllister's front door; ringing the door bell the two stood waiting for the widow. After pulling back the curtains enough to see out the window, she cautiously opened the front door.

"Mrs. McAllister, NCIS, we need to ask you a few things," Gibbs in false kindness; obviously anxious to get back to the office.

"Alright…" she said, her nervousness showing instantly.

"Mrs. McAllister," Kate began, but she cut her off.

"Please…call me Laura," she said; both agents smiled weakly at the invite.

"Laura, did your husband start acting irregularly in the past few weeks, or days?" Kate asked, in a kinder tone than Gibbs was willing to use.

"No…well…not that I noticed…why?" she asked, suddenly appearing nervous.

"Well…when we don't have a solid lead to use as a starting point," Gibbs began, in a cynical tone, "we have to start somewhere."

Kate shot a glance at Gibbs, "Can you tell us anything about him? Really, anything would help."

"Well…he didn't socialize much, the most I heard about his social life consisted of a bar not far from where he worked; that is when he was actually near the Naval building…" Laura explained.

"Can you tell us the name of this bar?" Kate asked.

"Ummm…Sea…sea…something…" she began, slowly drifting into memories, "_Sea Glass!_ I knew it'd come to me…" Gibbs' eyes lit up the minute she mentioned the name. He knew that bar well, he'd gone there on many occasions himself for an after work drink; or to meet people who regularly inhabited that location.

Kate saw the light bulb go off in her boss's mind, his eyes said it all. What it was she had no idea, and she knew he wasn't going to tell her; definitely not in the company of Mrs. McAllister. She watched her boss excuse the two of them in an anxious manner, and she knew right away that whatever he'd thought of **had** to be important. Following him to the car, she smiled to herself noticing that he never forgot to give whoever they were talking to his number.

"So what's so special about this bar?" Kate asked, knowing her boss knew something.

"Not really about the bar, the bar is just the setting," he began in the tone he used every time he was stating an obvious fact, "it's about the people who _live_ there."

"And who are these people?" Kate said, trying to hide her frustration. Gibbs always made them dig for information no one else knew but him.

"The government would rather ignore the existence of certain people. These are the people that opened the bar 'Sea Glass', the ones who hang out there to get a drink probably don't even know about that," the older man explained. He didn't appreciate the people who inhabited the bar after hours and even during business hours; but at this point he was convinced there was nothing more he could do except take them out.

"Who are these people? The Russian mafia?" Kate asked, half joking.

"No…" Gibbs began, "the _Italian_."

Kate couldn't believe her ears. The Italian mafia had killed McAllister, who would be next and why was he the first target? That of course was the job they had to do and the answer wasn't going to just fall into her lap. For once she really wished it worked that way.


End file.
